The region of northern Europe today known as Germany, Switzerland, Belgium, and the Netherlands experienced momentous social, political, and artistic transformation from 1450 through the early 1600s, a time now called the Northern Renaissance. Rare prints by Albrecht Dürer, Hendrick Goltzius, and other influential artists are shown alongside engravings, etchings, and woodcuts by other highly talented but less familiar figures, such as Erhard Schön and Jan Sadeler I.

This visual feast of works recently added to the National Gallery collection offers new perspectives on this rapidly developing region of Europe and introduces the creative genius and extraordinary skill of artists and printmakers who shaped the Northern Renaissance.